Alcide and I
by KatieHerveaux
Summary: Story goes into the life of a new Were. A young girl named Hazel. Shifting for the first time, she soon realizes, will turn her whole life up-side-down. And with the help of her new Uncle Alcide she finds out what really happened to her parents. Bad summary, I know.


***All rights go to Charlaine Harris and Alan Ball***

Alcide and I

The August air was thick with heat. Sweat dripped down my neck, making my shirt a wet mess. Sitting alone on the park bench I let my mind wander free. I thought about the sounds I heard throughout the busy park corner. The cars that rushed by and birds that chirped high up in the greened leafed trees. I exhaled slowly, taking a sip from my ice cold water that I now felt smart for bringing. I glanced at my skateboard which was resting against the rusted arm of the bench. I started pondering what it would be like to be a pro skateboarder. Money and fame, I thought. No more worries, just me, my board, and my millions of fans. That would be a life quite the opposite of mine. But something interrupted my daydream. I felt a chill slip down my sweaty spine. Something unusual for a humid August day. The always strange feeling of someone, or something watching me. Blank eyes following my every move. But where is it? Where is the pair of observant eyes that have chosen to follow my movements so closely? I had no clue whatsoever. So before I get into any trouble, I stood up and grabbed my board. I took a quick look around me and saw nothing but a few moving cars and some quarrelsome squirrels. Then I glanced towards the woods off to the back of the park. I remembered an article I read a few weeks before. Something about how that forest was larger than everyone had thought, and a group of teenagers drunk on their father's cheap liquor dared each other to enter its vastness. But none of them were ever heard from again. And now I found myself drawn to the mysterious blackness that was strangely familiar to my memory. Even though that memory was a foggy one, a memory it still was. Once again that same cold shiver seemed to shake me radically. The shadows looked as if they were reaching for me. Trying to pull me into its hypnotic blackness. My eye lids flickered, making my mind return to its prober state. And with a confused look on my face, I took a few steps and pushed of on my board. My heart raced a little as I left the park.

I entered the small alley. The walls though dry were coated in red brick. That's right, home sweet home. Placing my skateboard against the wall and falling into a dirty cushion, I thought about the days ahead. If I work for Mr. Deck tomorrow and the next day I'll be able to rank up enough cash to survive another week. Mr. Deck was a drug dealer for my area. He was large and in charge, as you may say. He ran a gang of thugs that delivered the 'goods' for him. Occasionally I would join his group for a pocket full of cash to help me with my troubles. But the others, obviously only joined for the white powder that Mr. Decks gave out when their work was done. I have never been on drugs of any kind (that is if you count pain killers for a headache as drugs) so I usually sell the package to someone else looking to get their next high. But tonight I didn't feel like working. So I leaned back and swapped through a calendar I had in stock. When I reached August I saw a scribbled writing in today's date. It read, "13th Birthday" in the small box. I laid my head back against the brick wall looking up. The stars were clear in the night sky. Wow, today I was thirteen years old. Strange, I thought. Because I felt like I was fifty. Suddenly out of the blue my heart started to race. My eyes became watered and red. My skin started to heat up. My body was changing; it felt like a million knives being stabbed into you at once. My hair fell in my face. My vision dimmed and all I could see was a silhouette of black standing over me. I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry. I wanted to leave here and be able to go home. Home? There was no such thing in my miserable life. My body started to shake. I tried to reach out. For something, anything. But the last thing I remember was the shadow of a stranger grabbing hold of me and picking me up.

...

Thump...Thump...Thump...The sound of my heart racing. The sound of my quickening breaths. The sound of my head pounding. The sound of about fifty wolves running through the thick brush...Wait, what?

My eyes refused to open but I told them otherwise by breaking their slumber slowly and carefully. My vision was near blind. But my other senses were at their peak.

My nose. I could smell a blossoming rose from a mile away. My ears. I could hear the howls in the distance. And a whooshing sound, so familiar yet so new. My skin. Wait, my skin? Hold on...IM NAKED! My body instinctively curled into a protective ball. I screeched in pain as I did. This was the most sore I've ever been in my entire life. Each muscle, every bone. Ached and yelled in pure pain.

What was happening? Where was I? And why was I here?

The Earth around me became clear as my eyes regained their vision. But before I could wake completely my pulsating body was wrapped in warm arms. I tried to fight against the sudden embrace but my limbs grew limp at the agonizing pain.

"Hush Cher, I got you." said a warm and comforting voice.

But I couldn't get a good look. I started to lose consciousness and my world began to fade again. I let that darkness take over me. That very same hypnotic blackness that tied me to the mysterious forest in the first place. Was that where I was? The woods just off to the side of the park? Was the figure holding me the same as the figure staring at me earlier?

I couldn't finish the thought. Every nerve in my body gave up and fell into the burning grasp the stranger had on me. I blacked out for the second time that night.

...

"Ugh..." I moaned in pain. My body seemed to recharge a bit since my last reawakening. But it still pounded with surging weakness. I couldn't open my eyes for both physical and emotional ways. I felt as if my eyelids were glued together. In some sort of crust that parents would tell their child was from the Sand Man. Emotionally though, I confessed to myself that I was definitely afraid to open them. I didn't know where I was or how I got here. God knows what could be on the other side of my black slumber.

"Morning Cher, sleep well", came that warm voice from last night.

My eyes burst open at his sudden presence. Roughly sitting up, in what I now see was a small twin sized bed, I stared at the strange figure. At first all I saw was a chest…big, wide, and firm. It was covered neatly with a dark red and black flannel shirt. Next I saw a face. Not a gruesome face, like the one I pictured in my dreams but, a handsome one that smiled with shiny white teeth. Then there were the eyes. Beautiful pools of light brown that were returning my straight forward stare. My eyes roamed around what seemed to be a bedroom. Starting at the unfamiliar furniture I was already sitting in. I looked to see a nightstand. A small lamp placed on top, it was turned on and right now the only source of light I could find. I spun my aching head to see a closet, a wooden chair, a chest of drawers, a mirror, and a another door leading to what I think is a bathroom.

"W-Where am I? How did I get here? Who are you?" my questions were answered with hesitant gaze from my 'figure'.

"Easy now Cher, don't get worked up. Your fine, I'll explain it all over breakfast. Can you stand?" he spoke soft and carefully. As if there was something he didn't want to reveal.

"Yes I can freak stand"! I said in a hissy tone. I wasn't going to let him take the easy way out. "You better answer me or...or, I'll call the cops on your ass!"

I knew I had no cell phone and there wasn't a telephone around me but, I wasn't going down without a fight!

He gave me a quick smirk while holding up his hands in surrender. "Hey, I didn't do anything. I explain your crazy night if you join me in the kitchen", he said smiling a bit.

I slowly stood. My body still wincing at the pain. I looked myself over to see a very large flannel shirt wrapped around me and buttoned. It must be his, I thought. It was his size and shape. As I began to walk cautiously toward the man I realized I'm not wearing anything underneath the dress-like shirt. Even though on me it almost touched my knees, I was still uncomfortable. After all I was in a strange place, wearing strange clothes, with a strange man which whom I know nothing about.

Awkwardly following him out of the room I crossed my arms over my chest. He lived in a small apartment. I could tell by the peak out the window I got as we went through the living room. It was small, but it was neat. A little on the manly side, but that didn't surprise me. He looked manly.

He had a very well-kept beard, which was funny because his hair was a hot-mess. Though with a light touch of gray, his hair was almost pitch black. His muscles were the perfect example of years of hard work in what I believe is construction. He was very handsome overall, and had a thick southern drawl.

As we entered the kitchen the smell hit me. Eggs and sausage. The man walked over to the stove and pointed to the small dinner table in the corner. I took a seat in one of the matching chairs.

"So where am I?" I said with a sigh.

He took in a deep breath and exhaled. "Okay, my name is Alcide Herveaux. And I'm your uncle.", my eyes widened. My heart raced. My skin started to crawl.

"You? You're my uncle? Wait...that's impossible! I don't have any relatives!" my voice became shrill. It was impossible, or so I thought. I never had any family members. They either moved to Mexico before I was born or died.

"Yes I'm your uncle. I know it seems crazy but, I didn't know I had a niece either." he said looking back at the eggs he was scrambling. "I thought you were dead, gone just like your mother and father." he looked even grimmer than before.

"My mother and father are dead?" not like I cared. But, I thought they just left me, alone. But if they died, then it wasn't their fault. Or was it?

He gave me a shocked look, "You, didn't know?"

I shook my head and looked down. "Hazel, I'm sorry. But, they were murdered the night you were born."

...

Why? That's all I could think of. I leaned over the table and put my head in my hands. I suddenly didn't feel like breakfast (though I was still hungry).

I felt a warm shadow come behind be. Alcide placed his large hand on my back which made me jump. "Easy. I know it's difficult to take in at one time Hazel, but there's more..." he said a little worried.

Great, more! Like the fact I basically spent my whole childhood in a lie wasn't enough! He leaned in closer and took my hand. Oh no.

"Hazel, don't think this is a joke or something but...but your, a..." he choked.

"I'm a what!" I yelled almost directly in his ear.

"A Werewolf!" he jumped back.

What? A werewolf? What. The. Fuck.

"A werewolf? Ugh..." I said hitting my head on the table in the process.

"Trust me, I know it sounds stupid. But, about last night...you turned thirteen." he said slowly.

"How do you know that? And for the billionth time...Where am I?" I was starting to get annoyed.

"Well for starters, I knew it was your birthday cause it was the anniversary of your parents' death.", he paused. "And you're still in Shreveport. About a mile or so away from where I picked you up. This is my apartment." he said with a weak smile and a grand gesture.

I sighed, "Okay, but what about my clothes? And why was I in the forest last night?" I was so confused.

"Like I said you're a Were now. And last night was the full moon. You went through your last stage of puberty and for us, that's sifting for the first time." he attempted to smile again but it was weaker than before.

...

Alcide placed a full plate of food in front of me. Complete with scrambled eggs, some sort of Irish sausage, two pieces of buttered toast, and a cup of black coffee. "Go on darlin'. Eat up, you're probably starving after the exhausting pain you went through last night".

And just as he said that I felt my stomach rumble aloud. I ate everything. Down to the last sip of the surprisingly delicious coffee.

Alcide watched it all. I can only assume that he already ate his meal. After I was done I didn't know what to do, so I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Alcide seemed to notice.

"Oh, um. I have your clothes in the dryer. Your shift came pretty quickly so I had to take your clothes off. You know, it would flow easier if I did", he said with an uncomfortable shift of his own. "Weres are used to seeing each other in the buff, so it's nothing sexual. Since we don't suddenly appear with clothes on, and we can't shift without tearing apart our outfit, we see one another naked. After a while we get comfortable not judging people on their appearance and stay in the borders of keeping things not sexual".

"Oh, okay. But I don't remember anything that happened after the pain, will I ever remember the change, or shift, whatever it is?", I asked.

"Yes of course. The first few shifts are a little hazy, that's perfectly normal. But when your body gets used to the change you'll be able to remember the shift clearly."

I looked down at my hands, thinking of any other questions. "So, you're a werewolf also?" I asked.

He gave me a little smirk," Yeah I'm a Were. But there's something you have to understand. You can't tell a-n-y-o-n-e, okay? Us Weres have lived here for over five-hundred years without a single human knowing it. And we tend to keep it that way, for the sake of our kind. You understand?" he told me with a serious look. I nodded vigorously.

My next question took me awhile to work up the courage to ask, "So, what really happened to my parents?".

Alcide looked down at his now nervous palms," They were murdered Hazel, the night you were born. All anyone knows is that it was done by pack members, but they never had enough evidence to truly know who did it. Hazel I'm sorry you had to learn like this, but you have to understand. I didn't know you were still alive until a week ago!" he exclaimed.

"No. No, no it's okay. I guess I always thought they abandoned me. It's just a lot to take in at one time", I told him while running a shaking hand through my thick black hair.

"Then you should relax, you sleepy?" he said kindly.

"Yea, a little bit", I said rubbing my eyes.

Alcide offered a lazy smile and lead me to the same bedroom I was in before. But right before he shut the door he turned around, "I'll finish drying your clothes and leave them by your door. And we are going to shift again tonight so I'll wake you if your still sleeping.", he rubbed the back of his neck and walked out shutting the door behind him. I fell into a deep dark slumber.

...

Alcide woke me up at about five o' clock that day. He did as he said and left my shirt and jeans hanging on the door.

After I dressed and took a moment to breathe I entered the living room. Alcide was sitting on the couch watching something on the news when I came in. "Hey, you ready to go?" he said easily.

"Go where?" I replied a little nervous.

"Well we have to meet up with the pack before we shift, and I have to tell the pack master about you", Alcide said calmly.

"Oh, okay", this was starting to get scary. What was a pack again?


End file.
